Georgia

Formation Date:

1991

Population:

4968000

Land area:

69700.00

GNP:

6064.00

Government Form:

Republic

Head of State:

Eduard ?evardnadze

On January 25, 2004, Mikhail Saakashvili was inauguarated as Georgia’s new president, taking the presidential oath in front of the parliament building where two months before, he led protesters who evicted longtime former President Eduard Shevardnadze.

Four huge white and red medieval banners used by Saakashvili’s opposition movement were hanging in front of the parliament. After he was sworn in, Saakashvili signed an act making the medieval banner shown above Georgia’s new official flag.

In a symbolic gesture to underline Georgia's European aspirations, Saakashvili, surrounded by a coloful group of children in national costumes, hoisted the flag of the European Union next to Geogia’s new flag immediately after taking oath. “Georgia has been a European country since the ancient times,” Saakashvili told thousands of people who gathered in front of the parliament. “It’s not accidental that we raised the European flag today, it’s also our flag.”